A Chance to Change
by superpottergod21
Summary: When 5 people from the future travel to the past, they have the chance to change the outcome of the war. Will they? Read to find out! My take on the Reading the Deathly Hallows. Rated to because I'm paranoid! Read/Review!
1. Chapter 1

Hi! Im back! I'm taking a hiatus from my other story for a little while, so bare with me! Hope you like my new story! Some grammar and spelling mistakes may be in here, as I suck at editing. Please read/review!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, and probably not even really that! **

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Prologue:

It was a warm summer day at the Burrow. The Potter-Weasley clan were all enjoying the annual Sunday picnic.

"Ron, stop hogging the marcaroni salad!"

"Boys! Knock it off!"

"Stop it, James!"

"But Albus, you could be a Slyth- Mom! Dad!"

The Weasleys and the Potter children watched as Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione glowed gold and faded away as the four screamed in pain, with their kids screaming for their parents.

In Malfoy Manor, a certain blond haired Slytherin did the same, glowing gold and fading away in pain.

37 years in the past, a group of pranksters and their wife/fiancés were doing the same.

Only thing left in the places they were taken from- a silver phoenix with a golden letter.

All were taken to place where a friend to each greeted them.

The Maruders and their ladies had a staring contest with the Golden Trio and Ginny. They were interrupted by Draco Malfoy when he came.

"Bloody Hell!" And of course the silence was broken by Ron.

"Harry, I think these are the young Marauders and the Marauderettes. A.K.A., your dad, mom, Remus, Sirius, Marlene McKinnon, and Dorcas Meadows," whispered Hermione.

"James, these kids look familiar. Especially that boy, you looks exactly like you, although much older," muttered Lily to James. "Yes he looks like me, but with your eyes," said James, just as quiet and cautious.

Hermione stepped forward. "Hello, are you James and Lily Potter? Remus Lupin and Dorcas Meadows? Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon?"

"How do you know our names?!"

"No, I'm Bob Snyder, head Auror."

"Shut up Sirius! Why yes we are! Who are you?"

The comments came from Remus, Sirius, and Lily respectively.

Harry laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure it's them. I'm Harry Potter, and yes I am related to these Potters. (He pointed at Lily and James.) This is my wife Ginny, and my best friends Hermione Malfoy and Ron Weasley. We are from the future."

James and Lily were deep in thought after he said that he was related to them.

Sirius was suspicious when Harry said 'Malfoy'.

"Wait, Malfoy?! Are you related to Luscious Luscius?!"

Nobody answered but Draco smirked.

"We'll, now that introductions are done, let me just say- what in Merlin's pants are we doing here?!"

Harry groaned. "And that would be Draco Malfoy, the biggest and slowest idiot in the world." Draco scowled.

"And the most handsome." Grinned hermione lovingly. Draco lit up at this and kissed her soundly.

They heard chuckling, and they all turned and whipped out their wands.

Albus Dumbledore raised his hands in surrender. "I'm the real Dumbledore, and my favorite jam is raspberry by the way."

Everyone but Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco lowered their wands,they just raised them higher, Draco very pale, like his ferret self.

"I can curse you to the next universe. Now, tell me who you truly are before I do just that."

"Harry!" Said Lily shocked.

He looked over. "I fought in a war, and watched this man get struck by the killing curse, then fall over the edge of the astronomy tower. There is no way he should be alive right now, so please tell me who in name of Merlin's pants are you?!"

Albus smiled and waved his wand. A patronus came out, in the shape of a Phoenix; more specifically Fawks.

The others stated in awe.

"I am the true Albus Dumbledore, here to help change the future."

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"What do you mean 'change the future'? Questioned James.

"I mean, something drastic is going to change your entire future, and Harry here will have to grow up parent-less. His parents will be personally murdered by Voldemort himself when poor Harry was a year old."

Harry looked solemnly at Lily and James as Dumbledore said that, something Remus did not miss.

"Harry, are Lily and James your parents?" He asked.

Harry looked at the said couple who were curious about the answer. He then looked at hermione, who nodded.

"Yes."

Lily just started crying while James looked at Harry sadly. Sirius was the worst, he just stared at Harry and his parents. Not saying anything. That was a problem.

A silent Sirius was a dangerous Sirius.

Albus watched this, and continued. "This is why you guys are here. You must change the future to prevent the deaths of mr and mrs potter. Also, to prevent the wrong conviction of Mr. Black here.."

Sirius snapped out of it. "Conviction? As in Azkaban?"

"Yes, you were framed for the murder of your best friend. If you haven't noticed, there is a reason Mr. Pettigrew isn't here."

"Yeah, where is Wormtail? Why isn't he here?" Asked Remus.

"It is known knowledge that there was a mole amongst the Order. Unfortunately, it was found out that the mole was among the four Marauders. Remus and Peter had supposedly thought the mole was Sirius. Lily, James, and Sirius thought the rat to be Remus. All of you were wrong. The rat, pardon my pun, was Peter "Wormtail" pettigrew. He leaked information to Voldemort, which led to the deaths of lily and James and the attempted murder of little harry."

To say the marauders were shocked was an understatement.

"no! Absolutely not!"

"Wormtail would never do that to us!"

"Unfortunately, it is true." Harry spoke up. " I found out the true story behind it all in my third year of hogwarts, right after I tried to strangle Sirius to death for the murders of my parents. Wormtail was actually the traitor. After Voldemort killed Lily and James, he disappeared. Sirius was the first on the scene, took one look at the house and took off. He found Pettigrew, and started screaming at him. But Pettigrew is more sneaky then you think. He screamed, 'why would you do this Sirius? Our best friends!' And proceeded to blow up the street. During which, he chopped off a finger and transformed, leaving the wizarding world to believe he was dead. He escaped through and open and broken water pipe that became exposed in the explosion. he took refuge at Ron's house, and lived as a rat, Scabbers, for 12 years. We later found out the truth when Sirius broke out of Azkaban and tried to find Pettigrew. He then admitted the truth and was chained up. He then changed, and because of it being a full moon, Professor Lupin transformed and during which Pettigrew got away and went to find his master."

Yeah, the marauders were at loss for words. Especially Sirius for the breaking-out-of-Azkban thing, and Remus for being a professor and transforming with Harry there. Lily and James were upset about the Peter-betraying-them-and-leaving-them-to-Voldemort thing.

Well this was eventful.

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A/N: next chapter will be the first chapter of the Deathly Hallows!


	2. Chapter 2: The Dark Lord Ascending

Hello guys, I'm back! Tanks to all of my followers and reviewers! You have been rewarded with a virtual cookie! ㇱ0ㇱ0ㇱ0 now onto the story!

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"Well, now that that's out of the way, how about we start reading?" Asked Harry, to break the awkward silence.

*poof* A letter appeared.

**Dear patrons from the future and the past:**

**Harry, you may answer any questions, but none that may deal with your seventh year or the future that you reside. You can answer questions that have to deal with your hogwarts years, but none others. Learn. Prevent. Hope.**

**-The Sender.**

"Who is this sender person? Is it male or female? Future or past? Most likely future. How far in the future? When we die? Harry's kids? My kids? Ron's-" Hermione rattled off, but was interrupted by Draco who was kissing her.

"Granger, calm down! It doesn't matter!"

"Have you forgotten I am a Malfoy now? For like 12 years now?"

"You will always be granger in my book, granger." Draco smirked.

Hermione humphed. "Just see where that lands you when we get home."

Harry just said, "lets start reading. I will read first."

**Chapter 1: The Dark Lord Ascending**

'That doesn't sound too good,' spoke Dorcas.

**The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in a narrow, moonlit lane. For a second they stood quite still, wands directly at each others chests; then recognizing each other, they stowed their wands beneath their cloaks and started walking briskly in the same direction.**

**"News?" Asked the taller of the two.**

**"The best," replied Severus Snape.**

'I knew he was a death eater!' Shouted Sirius.

**The lane was bordered on the left by wild, low growing brambles, on the right by a high, neatly manicured hedge. The men's long cloaks flapped around their ankles as they marched.**

**"I thought I might be late," said Yaxley, his blunt features sliding in and out of sight as the branches of overhanging tress broke It was a little trickier than I expected. But I hope he will be satisfied. You should confident that your reception will be good." Snape nodded, but did not elaborate. They turned right, into a wide driveway that led off the lane. The high hedge curved with them, running off into the distance beyond the pair of impressive s way. Neither of them broke step.**

Draco smirked as he thought of his manor and saw the awed faces of the marauders.

**In silence both raised their left arms in a kind of salute and passed straight through, as though the dark metal were smoke. The yew hedges muffled the sound of the men's footsteps. There was a rustle somewhere to their right; Yaxley drew his wand again, pointing it over his companion's head, but the source of the noise proved to be nothing more than a pure-white peacock, strutting majestically along the top of the hedge.**

**"He always did himself well, Lucius.**

"This is your manor?!" exclaimed Sirius. "Yes, although now it is peacock free and less gloomy," answered Hermione. "Hey, pardon, but can we agree on minimum commentary throughout the story, so not to interrupt the flow?" The group agreed.

**Peacocks . . . " Yaxley thrust his wand back under his cloak with a snort. A handsome manor house grew out of the darkness at the end of the straight drive, lights glinting in the diamond-paned downstairs windows. Somewhere in the dark garden beyond the hedge a fountain was playing. Gravel crackled beneath their feet as Snape and Yaxley sped toward the front door, which swung inward at their approach, though nobody had visibly opened it. The hallway was large, dimly light, and sumptuously decorated, with a magnificent carpet covering most of the stone floor. The eyes of the pale-faced portraits on the walls followed Snape and Yaxley as they strode past. The two men halted at a heavy wooden door leading into the next room, hesitated for the space of a heartbeat, then Snape turned the bronze handle. The drawing room was full of silent people, sitting at a long and ornate table. The room's usual furniture had been pushed carelessly up against the walls. Illumination came from a roaring fire beneath a handsome marble mantelpiece surmounted by a gilded mirror. Snape and Yaxley lingered for a moment on the threshold. As their eyes grew accustomed to the lack of light, they were drawn upward to the strangest feature of the scene; an apparently unconscious human figure hanging upside down over the table, revolving slowly as if suspended by an invisible rope, and reflected in the mirror and in the bare, polished surface of the table below. He seemed unable to prevent himself from glancing upward every minute or so.**

"That poor soul!" whimpered Lily, who then apologized to Harry.

**"Yaxley, Snape," said a high, clear voice from the head of the table. "You are very nearly late."**

Sirius grunted and tried to stifle laughter.

**The speaker was seated directly in front of the fireplace, so that it was difficult, at first, for the new arrivals to make out more than his silhouette. As they drew nearer, however, this face shone through the gloom, hairless, snakelike, with slits for nostrils and gleaming red eyes whose pupils were vertical. He was so pale that he seemed to emit a pearly glow.**

**"Severus, here," said Voldemort, indicating the seat on his immediate right.**

Snape is his right hand man?!" James demanded.

**"Yaxley—beside Dolohov." The two men took their allotted places. Most of the eyes around the table followed Snape, and it was to him that Voldemort spoke first.**

**"So?"**

**"My Lord, the Order of the Phoenix intends to move Harry Potter from his current place of safety on Saturday next, at nightfall."**

"YOU RAT! YOU DO NOT DESERVE THE GRACIOUSNESS THE ORDER COULD HAVE PROVIDED YOU!" James shouted as Lily looked solemn.

Hermione just smirked and looked at Harry knowingly. The marauders were getting a little peeved at this.

**The interest around the table sharpened palpably; Some stiffened, others fidgeted, all gazing at Snape and Voldemort.**

**"Saturday . . . at nightfall," repeated Voldemort. His red eyes fastened upon Snape's black ones with such intensity that some of the watchers looked away, apparently fearful that they themselves would be scorched by the ferocity of the gaze. Snape, however, looked calmly back into Voldemort's face and, after a moment or two. Voldemort's lipless mouth curved into something like a smile.**

**"Good. Very good. And this information comes—"**

**"—from the source we discussed," said Snape.**

**"My Lord."**

**Yaxley had leaned forward to look down the long table at Voldemort and Snape. All faces turned to him.**

**"My Lord, I have heard differently," Yaxley waited but Voldemort did not speak, so he went on, "Dawlish, the Auror, let slip that Potter will not be moved until the thirtieth, the night before the boy turns seventeen."**

**Snape was smiling,** ("My eyes!" said Sirius) **My source told me that there are plans to lay a false trail; this must be it. No doubt a Confundus Charm has been placed upon Dawlish. It would not be the first time; he is known to be " **

**"I assure you, my Lord, Dawlish seemed quite certain," said Yaxley.**

**"If he has been Confunded, naturally he is certain," said Snape. "I assure you, Yaxley, the Auror Office will play no further part in the protection of Harry Potter. The Order believes that we have infiltrated the Ministry."**

**"The Order's got one thing right, then, eh?" said a squat man sitting a short distance from Yaxley; he gave a wheezy giggle that was echoed here and there along the table.**

**Voldemort did not laugh. His gaze had wandered upward to the body revolving slowly overhead, and he seemed to be lost in thought.**

**"My Lord," Yaxley went on, "Dawlish believes an entire party of Aurors will be used to transfer the boy—"**

**Voldemort held up a large white hand, and Yaxley subsided at once, watching resentfully as Voldemort turned back to Snape.**

**"Where are they going to hide the boy next?"**

**"At the home of one of the Order," said Snape. "The place, according to the source, has been given every protection that the Order and Ministry together could provide. I think that there is little chance of taking him once he is there, my Lord, unless, of course, the Ministry has fallen before next Saturday, which might give us the opportunity to discover and undo enough of the enchantments to break through the rest."**

**"Well, Yaxley?" Voldemort called down the table, the firelight glinting strangely in his red eyes. "Will the Ministry have fallen by next Saturday?" Once again, all heads turned. Yaxley squared his shoulders.**

**"My Lord, I have good news on that score. I have—with difficulty, and after great effort—succeeded in placing an Imperius Curse upon Pius Thicknesse." Many of those sitting around Yaxley looked impressed; his neighbor, Dolohov, a man with a long, twisted face, clapped him on the back.**

**"It is a start," said Voldemort. "But Thicknesse is only one man. Scrimgeour must be surrounded by our people before I act. One failed attempt on the Minister's life will set me back a long way."**

**"Yes—my Lord, that is true—but you know, as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Thicknesse has regular contact not only with the Minister himself, but also with the Heads of all the other Ministry departments. I will, I think, be easy now that we have such a high-ranking official under our control, to subjugate the others, and then they can all work together to bring Scrimgeour down."**

**"As long as our friend Thicknesse is not discovered before he has converted the rest," said Voldemort. "At any rate, it remains unlikely that the Ministry will be mine before next Saturday. If we cannot touch the boy at his destination, the it must be done while he travels."**

**"We are at an advantage there, my Lord," said Yaxley, who seemed determined to receive some portion of approval. "We now have several people planted within the Department of Magical Transport. If Potter Apparates or uses the Floo Network, we shall know immediately."**

**"He will not do either," said Snape. "The order is eschewing any form of transport that is controlled or regulated by the Ministry; they mistrust everything to do with the place."**

**"All the better," said Voldemort. "He will have to move in the open. Easier to take, by far."**

**Again, Voldemort looked up at the slowly revolving body as he went on, "I shall attend to the boy in person. There have been too many mistakes where Harry Potter is concerned. Some of them have been my own. That Potter lives is due more to my errors than to his triumphs."**

Ron and Hermione were steaming mad at Voldemort while Draco looked ready to throw up as he remembered that night.

**The company around the table watched Voldemort apprehensively, each of them, by his or her expression, afraid that they might be blamed for Harry Potter's continued existence. Voldemort, however, seemed to be speaking more to himself than any of them, still addressing the unconscious body above him.**

**"I have been careless, and so have been thwarted by luck and chance, those wreckers of all but the best-laid plans. But I know better now. I understand those things that I did not understand before. I must be the one to kill Harry Potter, and I shall be."**

Dumbledore looked angry in his own Dumbledore-way, but other wise the others looked apprehensive at the thought of Voldemort after Harry, those being the maraduers.

**At these words, seemingly in response to them, a sudden wail sounded, a terrible, drawn-out cry of misery and pain. Many of those at the table looked downward, startled, for the sound had seemed to issue from below their feet.**

**"Wormtail," **

The Marauders looked upset at the tought of theirbest friend being a servent to Voldemort, whilst Harry and the gang looked angry. Very angry.

**said Voldemort, with no change in his quiet, thoughtful tone, and without removing his eyes from the revolving body above, "have I not spoken to you about keeping our prisoner quiet?"**

**"Yes, m–my Lord," gasped a small man halfway down the table, who had been sitting so low in his chair that it had appeared, at first glance, to be unoccupied. Now he scrambled from his seat and scurried from the room, leaving nothing behind him but a curious gleam of silver.**

'Silver?' thought Remus and Lily.

**"As I was saying," continued Voldemort, looking again at the tense faces of his followers, "I understand better now. I shall need, for instance, to borrow a wand from one of you before I go to kill Potter."**

**The faces around his displayed nothing but shock; he might have announced that he wanted to borrow one of their arms.**

**"No volunteers?" said Voldemort. "Let's see . . . Lucius, I see no reason for you to have a wand anymore."**

**Lucius Malfoy looked up. His skin appeared yellowish and waxy in the firelight, and his eyes were sunken and shadowed. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse.**

**"My Lord?"**

**"Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand."**

**"I . . . "**

**Malfoy glanced sideways at his wife. She was staring straight ahead, quite as pale as he was, her long blonde hair hanging down her back, but beneath the table her slim fingers closed briefly on his wrist. At her touch, Malfoy put his hand into his robes, withdrew a wand, and passed it along to Voldemort, who held it up in from of his red eyes, examining it closely.**

**"What is it?"**

**"Elm, my Lord," whispered Malfoy.**

**"And the core?"**

**"Dragon—dragon heartstring."**

**"Good," said Voldemort. He drew out his own wand and compared the lengths. Lucius Malfoy made an involuntary movement; for a fraction of a second, it seemed he expected to receive Voldemort's want in exchange for his own. The gesture was not missed by Voldemort, whose eyes widened maliciously.**

"Beginner's mistake."

**"Give you my wand, Lucius? My wand?"**

**Some of the throng sniggered.**

**"I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for you? But I have noticed that you and your family seem less than happy of late . . . What is it about my presence in your home that displeases you, Lucius?"**

**"Nothing—nothing, my Lord!"**

**"Such lies, Lucius . . . "**

**The soft voice seems to hiss on even after the cruel mouth had stopped moving. One or two of the wizards barely repressed a shudder as the hissing grew louder; something heavy could be heard sliding across the floor beneath the table.**

**The huge snake emerged to climb slowly up Voldemort's chair.**

**It rose, seemingly endlessly, and came to rest across Voldemort's shoulders; its neck the thickness of a man's thigh; its eyes, with their vertical slits for pupils, unblinking. Voldemort stroked the creature absently with long thin fingers, still looking at Lucius Malfoy.**

**"Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot? Is my return, my rise to power, not the very thing they professed to desire for so many years?"**

**"Of course, my Lord," said Lucius Malfoy. His hand shook as he wiped sweat from his upper lip. "We did desire it—we do."**

**To Malfoy's left, his wife made an odd, stiff nod, her eyes averted from Voldemort and the snake. To his right, his son, Draco,**

All eyes were now on Draco "YOU WERE A DEATH EATER?! WHY IS HE HERE?! HE COULD BE HERE TO REVEAL ORDER SECRETS!" Shouted Sirius. He raised his wand.

Hermione quickly disarmed Sirius and turned her wand on him at pointed it at his throat. "HOW DARE YOU?! YOU WILL NOT POINT YOUR WAND AT MY HUSBAND, NO MATTER WHO OR WHAT HE USED TO BE! I WILL NOT TOLERATE IT! I WILL HEX YOUR ARSE FASTER THEN YOU CAN SAY QUIDDITCH. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!" Sirius gulped. Hermione glared. "I SAID, DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!" She dropped her wand to his, um, body-parts-that-shall-not-be-named. "I know many spells that can permanently make you sterile if you do not answer me this second." "Yes!" Sirius yelped. "Good." She walked back to Draco who was smirking at her. "thanks babe." He kissed her swiftly but lovingly.

**To his right, his son, Draco, who had been gazing up at the inert body overhead, glanced quickly at Voldemort and away again, terrified to make eye contact.**

**"My Lord," said a dark woman halfway down the table, her voice constricted with emotion, "it is an honor to have you here, in our family's house. There can be no higher pleasure." She sat beside her sister, as unlike her in looks, with her dark hair and heavily lidded eyes, as she was in bearing and demeanor; where Narcissa sat rigid and impassive, Bellatrix leaned toward Voldemort, for mere words could not demonstrate her longer for closeness.**

**"No higher pleasure," repeated Voldemort, his head tilted a little to one side as he considered Bellatrix. "That means a great deal, Bellatrix, from you,"**

**Her face flooded with color; her eyes welled with tears of delight.**

**"My Lord knows I speak nothing but the truth!"**

**"No higher pleasure . . . even compared with the happy event that, I hear, has taken place in your family this week?"**

**She stared at him, her lips parted, evidently confused.**

**"I'm talking about your niece, Bellatrix. And your, Lucius and Narcissa. She has just married the werewolf, Remus Lupin. You must be so proud."**

"You married my cousin Nymphadora, Remus? But what about Dorcas?" asked Sirius.

Dorcas was hurt. Harry spoke up. "In a Death Eater raid at the Mckinnon house in May of 1981, Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadows, and the entire McKinnon family was brutally tortured and killed by Voldemort himself. However, they managed to apprehend nearly a dozen followers and killed about 5."

Dorcas and Marlene looked at each other and then ran to Lily who had started crying. Remus looked pale and too calm, and Sirius was fighting back tears and had left the room.

**"I don't know what you mean, my Lord."**

**There was an eruption of jeering laughter from around the table. Many leaned forward to exchange gleeful looks, a few thumped the table with their fists. The great snake, disliking the disturbance, opened its mouth and hissed angrily, but the Death Eaters did not hear it, so jubilant were they at Bellatrix and the Malfoys' humiliation. Bellatrix's face, so recently flushed with happiness, had turned an ugly, blotchy red.**

**"She is no niece of ours, my Lord," she cried over the outpouring of mirth. "We—Narcissa and I—have never set eyes on our sister since she married the Mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of us, nor any beast she marries."**

**"What say you, Draco?" asked Voldemort, and though his voice was quiet, it carried clearly through the catcalls and jeers. "Will you babysit the cubs?"**

**The hilarity mounted; Draco Malfoy looked in terror at his father, who was staring down into his own lap, then caught his mother's eye. She shook her head almost imperceptibly, then resumed her own deadpan stare at the opposite wall.**

**"Enough," said Voldemort, stroking the angry snake. "Enough."**

**And the laughter died at once.**

**"Many of our oldest family trees become a little diseased overtime," he said as Bellatrix gazed at him, breathless and imploring. "You must prune yours, must you not, to keep it healthy? Cut away those parts that threaten the health of the rest."**

**"Yes, my Lord," whispered Bellatrix, and her eyes swam with ****tears of gratitude again. "At the first chance!"**

**"You shall have it," said Voldemort. "And in your family, so in the world . . . we shall cut away the canker that infects us until only those of the true blood remain . . . "**

**Voldemort raised Lucius Malfoy's wand, pointed it directly at the slowly revolving figure suspended over the table, and gave it a tiny flick. The figure came to life with a groan and began to struggle against invisible bonds.**

**"Do you recognize our guest, Severus?" asked Voldemort.**

**Snape raised his eyes to the upside down face. All of the Death Eaters were looking up at the captive now, as though they had been given permission to show curiosity. As she revolved to face **the firelight, the woman said in a cracked and terrified voice. "Severus! Help me!"

**"Ah, yes," said Snape as the prisoner turned slowly away again.**

**"And you, Draco?" asked Voldemort, stroking the snake's snout with his wand-free hand. Draco shook his head jerkily. Now that the woman had woken, he seems unable to look at her anymore.**

**"But you would not have taken her classes," said Voldemort. "For those of you who do not know, we are joined here tonight by Charity Burbage, who until recently, taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."**

Hermione got ears in her eyes, as she heard the name of her favorite teacher.

**There were small noises of comprehension around the table. A broad, hunched woman with pointed teeth cackled. "Yes . . . Professor Burbage taught the children of witches and wizards all about Muggles . . . how they are not so different from us . . . "**

"BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT!" Shouted James and Draco.

**One of the Death Eaters spat on the floor. Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape again.**

**"Severus . . . please . . . please . . . "**

**"Silence," said Voldemort, with another twitch of Malfoy's wand, and Charity fell silent as if gagged. "Not content with corrupting and polluting the minds of Wizarding children, last week Professor Burbage wrote an impassioned defense of Mudbloods in the Daily Prophet. Wizards, she says, must accept those thieves of their knowledge and magic. The dwindling of the purebloods is, says Professor Burbage, a most desirable circumstance . . . She would have use all mate with Muggles . . . or, no doubt, werewolves . . . "**

**Nobody laughed this time; There was no mistaking the anger and contempt in Voldemort's voice. For the third time, Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape. Tears were pouring from her eyes into her hair. Snape looked back at her, quite impassive, as she turned slowly away from his again.**

**"Avada Kedavra."**

Almost everyone had tears in their eyes at the loss of a great professor.

**The flash of green light illuminated every corner of the room. Charity fell, with a resounding crash, onto the table below, which trembled and creaked. Several of the Death Eaters leapt back in their chairs. Draco fell out of his onto the floor.**

**"Dinner, Nagini," said Voldemort softly, and the great snakeswayed and slithered from his shoulders onto the polished wood.**

"That's the end of the chapter," said Harry sadly. "Who wants to read next?"

Lily was about to answer but was interrupted by Sirius who walked in to the room and wordlessly grabbed the book.

"Chapter 2: In Memoriam."


End file.
